I'll Be There
by dark-spirited Bakura
Summary: That redheaded man was like an angel… I knew he was nice because he had saved me from the villagers once, but he told me he was a bad person that belonged to a bad group. I don't believe him.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay I really really really wanted to write this! The idea of writing about a cute little five-year-old Deidara was too irresistible! And I've been wanting to write a story about his past for quite some time… I'm trying to keep it as canon as possible, but I might change things if it goes with the plot better. Anyways please read and review telling me if you want more!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then I would get many angry letters because I am horrible at drawing.**

**Summary: That redheaded man was like an angel… I knew he was nice because he had saved me from the villagers once, but he told me he was a bad person that belonged to a bad group. I don't believe him.**

**Warnings: Child abuse, some swearing, violence, Orochimaru bashing, and that should be it… I'll post warnings in later chapters if that chapter contains something to be warned about.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Deidara ran as fast as he could, panting heavily as he tried to escape the older boys that were quickly gaining on him. He dodged around several houses to try and lose them, but to no avail. He focused his gaze on the dirt path before him. If he could make it to his own house, then maybe he'd have a chance…

Deidara cried out as his foot connected with a pothole, effectively causing him to lose his balance and trip. He caught himself with his hands and tried to stand up again. A swift kick to his back quickly changed that though. The blonde gasped in pain as he hit the ground, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the beating that was sure to come.

"Good job, you three. I'm proud of you for catching that sneaky little devil," a voice said. A foot prodded at Deidara's side, none too gently. "This freak needs to be disposed of, once and for all. Kyon, you carry it and follow me back to the center of the village."

A pair of hands roughly grabbed Deidara by the arms. He whimpered as he was slung over the older boy's shoulder, trying to squirm his way out of the grip.

"Don't even try, you disgusting creature," the one named Kyon said, loathing obvious in his voice. "You're going to get what's coming to you soon enough."

Deidara opened his eyes and stared numbly at the ground as it passed by. What had he ever done to deserve this? All he'd ever wanted was a normal life, a normal family, normal friends, but he had gotten none of it. His parents had disowned him after they discovered the mouths on his hands and left him to fend for himself. After word had spread, nobody would even go near the blonde. But soon it escalated into beating him whenever he came into sight, and calling him dirty names that he only half understood. And it was all because of his hands.

A tear slowly rolled down Deidara's cheek and onto the ground as he trembled with fear. He had a feeling that this time the beating would be so much worse than usual.

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><p>Sasori scowled as he entered the village of Iwagakure, moving fast so he wouldn't be seen. He'd sent Orochimaru around to enter from the other side, mostly not wanting to deal with the snake's chattering right now. Of course Pein had to send them on a mission to the most bloodthirsty of the Five Great Nations to retrieve a stupid scroll. It seemed that all they ever did was steal scrolls anymore…<p>

The redhead stopped as a large, yelling mob came into view up ahead. He rolled his eyes, figuring that they were probably rebelling against the Tsuchikage for passing a new law or something. He stood there for a moment, and curiosity got the best of him as he pushed his way to the center of the crowd.

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><p>Deidara cried silently as the kunai ran across his flesh once more, the burning pain making him want to scream. But he'd never give these sick people the satisfaction of seeing him break. Never.<p>

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" Someone shouted.

"To Hell with you!" Another yelled.

"Kill the bastard already!"

The chuunin that was standing in front of him dropped the kunai and grabbed Deidara's hair, pulling him up to his feet roughly. "I'm not going to give you the escape of death until I get the satisfaction of hearing you scream, little freak."

He sent a swift kick to the blonde's right knee, making a sickening crunching sound. Deidara let out a strangled gasp, breathing labored as the pain started to make his vision blur. He fought to stay conscious, struggling to remain strong in what he knew would be his last moments.

"So that won't work either, huh? How about this?"

The kunai was drove into his broken leg and twisted around mercilessly. Deidara bit his lip so no sound would come out of his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut. Why wouldn't they stop?

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><p>Sasori froze at what he saw. It was a little boy. They were torturing a little boy who couldn't have been more than six years old. The sick bastards…<p>

The redhead watched numbly as the blonde boy was thrown to the ground. The chuunin that was beating him grabbed a torch from one of the people next to him and started burning the boy's arm, charring away the flesh. "How does that feel?" The torturer spat.

Sasori snapped. He lunged forward, wrenching the torch out of the chuunin's grasp and twisting the nin's arm around into a painful position, hearing it snap. He threw the worthless trash in front of him and sent a glare around at the crowd.

"If all of you pitiful excuses for humans don't get out of my sight right now then you will face the wrath of the Akatsuki." After a few shouted curses and dirty looks, the mob slowly dispersed, including the injured chuunin, leaving Sasori alone with the boy. He turned around and kneeled down, gently taking the blonde into his arms. "Let's get you out of here," he murmured absently to the unconscious figure.

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><p>Deidara cracked open his eyes slowly and wearily, blinking rapidly. He tried to sit up, but then fell back down again and hissed in pain. "Ow…" he muttered, taking in his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of clearing surrounded with tall trees. The green grass was long and looked like it hadn't been tended to in a while.<p>

"So you're awake at long last," a voice said. Deidara's heart immediately started pounding faster, and he backed as far away from the voice as he could despite his injuries. He started shaking, fear shining in his eyes as he tried to find the person who had spoken.

"Whoa, hey it's okay, I won't hurt you." Deidara finally caught sight of a redheaded man sitting on the other side of the clearing. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds embroidered on it, and had his arms folded over his chest. He looked calm and non-threatening enough, so the blonde let himself calm down a bit.

"W-who are you?" Deidara asked hoarsely. He hadn't used his voice to talk in quite some time. The redhead chuckled.

"I don't think I need to answer that. The question is: who are you?"

Deidara looked at him curiously. How did one respond to that question? "Well… I'm Deidara and I'm from Iwa, and according to them I'm a freak, or a devil spawn, or a monster, and a whole bunch of other things! I don't know what those words mean though… But they're compa… compla… complim… comp-li-ments, right?" he asked, stumbling over the long word.

The redhead stared at him for a few moments. "Such innocence…" he muttered. Deidara tilted his head to the side.

"What's innocence? Can you eat it?"

"In a way…" the man responded, sighing.

"Good, cause I'm starving!" Deidara announced, grinning. In response, his stomach growled loudly. The redhead rolled his eyes, reaching inside of his cloak.

"I don't think I have any food with me but I'll check." Deidara cautiously leaned forward, and then letting out a quick yelp as his leg burst out in pain. "Try not to move, your leg is pretty messed up."

"It's okay, it'll be fine," the blonde said. "This isn't really the first time this has happened, I'm used to it by now."

The man looked up, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean that wasn't the first time? How often does this happen?"

Deidara shrugged. "It happens almost every day. This week I've been lucky, they've only caught me three times so far."

The redhead muttered something under his breath, then finally pulling something edible out of his cloak. "Here, eat this." Deidara cautiously took the food, looking at it closely.

"It's not poisoned, is it?" he asked, looking at the man with wide eyes. "Because poison really tastes yucky and it makes me feel sick."

The man's eyes softened a little. "No, it's not poisoned."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay!" The blonde said cheerfully, taking a bite out of it. His eyes lit up. "This is so yummy! What's it called?" he asked, taking another huge bite out of it.

"It's called bakudan. It was the only food that I could find to bring on my mission," he said. "But I'd slow down in eating it before you choke yourself."

Deidara stopped with his mouth full, half of the bakudan gone already. "Buff ith fo ghurf!" He swallowed. "I've never tasted anything this good!"

"Well now you have." The redhead stood up, stretching out his arms and glancing around. "Where's Orochimaru?" he muttered absently.

"Who's Arashimori?" Deidara asked, butchering the snake's name.

"My stupid ass partner," the redhead replied.

"Oh I see." The blonde nodded sagely, finishing off the last of the bakudan. "Is he around here somewhere?"

A rustling noise answered that, and a tall man with long black hair emerged from the forest. "There you are. What are you doing all the way out here?"

Deidara, assuming this was Orochimaru, waved vigorously. "Hi stupid ass partner!"

The redhead's mouth twitched, but he covered it up by facepalming. The pale man cast the blonde an interested glance. "Oh, who iss thisss?" he asked, dragging out the "s" sound.

"I'm Deidara and this nice man saved me!" Deidara said, pointing at the other man. "He even gave me food!"

Orochimaru smirked, turning to the redhead. "It lookss like sssomone is going ssoft. You know we can't keep him though, right?"

"I only saved him because those Iwa villagers are completely deranged," the redhead said in an irritated voice. "They were going to kill him."

"Iss that sso?" The black-haired man turned to Deidara again. "Now why would ssomeone do that to ssuch a preciousss child?" This new man was starting to creep the blonde out. He slowly stood up, ignoring the pain in his right leg and favoring his left. Eventually he pulled himself into a standing position and looked at the redhead.

"Thank you for saving me mister, but I have to go back now. My house will get lonely if I don't keep it company."

The redhead shot him an incredulous stare. "You can't be serious."

Deidara tilted his head to the side curiously. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm not going to let you go back there. You're coming with us."

"But what about my house?" the blonde asked worriedly.

"It doessn't matter becausse he'ss not coming with usss," Orochimaru said, narrowing his eyes at his partner. "You know that Pein will never allow uss to bring him into the basse, right?"

The redhead shrugged. "Well boo hoo, he's going to have to make an exception. I'm bringing the kid with us." He walked over to Deidara and picked him up. The blonde automatically flinched away from the touch, but calmed himself down by telling himself that this man was nice and he wouldn't hurt him. He was gently placed on the man's back, and Deidara reached his arms around the redhead's neck and held on tightly.

The blonde sighed as he rested his head against the man's shoulder. "Hey mister, you never told me your name," he said in a muffled voice.

"And I told you it was of no concern," the redhead replied. "Just call me Danna or something, I don't care."

"Okay," Deidara yawned. "Are you an angel, Danna?" He chuckled.

"I'm the farthest thing from it."

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><p>Sasori glanced over at his partner as the blonde fell asleep on his back. "So did you get the scroll? I hope you did because I got a little distracted."<p>

In response Orochimaru pulled a scroll out of his own cloak. "Yesss, I actually managed to remain focussed on the misssion."

"Good. Let's head back to base then. We're already a day behind schedule because of that little fiasco in the last village."

Sasori turned around and started walking, Orochimaru following him. The trip was silent, which the puppeteer was thankful for. He started thinking about the boy he was carrying.

_Why would anyone do that to someone as innocent as him? _he wondered, frowning. _It makes absolutely no sense. And to beat him like this nearly daily? What the hell was wrong with Iwa? From what he said, I'm guessing that whenever he leaves his house the villagers chase him down and attack him. And he's also been poisoned before, most likely more than once. Why had no one ever said or done anything about it? There had to be at least one kind-hearted person in that dump. And what about the kid's family? Did he not have any? I can sympathize with the kid there. _

As he continued to think, he froze as he felt something wet on his neck. Sasori grimaced as he realized that the kid was probably drooling on him in his sleep. Disgusted, he went to remove him from his neck but then stopped again when he saw the blonde's hands.

Mouths. There were mouths on his hands. What. The. Hell.

"Iss there ssomething wrong?" Orochimaru asked, stopping beside the redhead. Sasori blinked as it all started to click together in his head.

"So that's why…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the strange hands. "But still…"

A yawn interrupted his thoughts, and then a voice. "Why did we stop, Danna?"

Sasori turned his head so he could see Deidara, and held one of the blonde's hands up. "You never told me about these."

Deidara's eyes widened, and he started trembling again, whimpering. "Y-you're g-gonna beat me u-up now t-t-too…" He started crying, and tried to squirm out of Sasori's grip.

The redhead was shocked at the kid's reaction, but his suspicions had been confirmed. It was because of his hands that the villagers attacked him the way they did. Orochimaru was now looking at the blonde's hands, seeming very interested in them.

"We might have a reasson to keep him after all," the snake said, smirking. Meanwhile, Sasori was trying to calm Deidara down.

"Ssh it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I really don't care that your hands are different," he said quickly. "I'm different too. Where we're going everyone is different."

Deidara sniffled, looking at the redhead. "Do you mean that? You're not going to hurt me?"

"Yes, I promise," Sasori said soothingly. "I actually think your hands are pretty cool."

"Really?" the blonde asked, looking surprised. "You're the first person to ever say that to me. Usually when people see my hands they get angry."

"I find your handsss very… interessting asss well," Orochimaru said, still inspecting them.

"Thanks Danna, thanks stupid ass partner," Deidara smiled. Sasori couldn't help it this time, he started laughing. Orochimaru sent him an irritated glare.

"Why doess he keep calling me that? I have a feeling it hass sssomething to do with you."

The redhead shrugged, still laughing. "Wasn't me."

"Yeah huh, Danna, you said Arashimori was your stupid ass partner," the blonde noted.

"Who the hell iss Arashimori?" Orochimaru asked.

Sasori shrugged again. "No clue."

"But I thought stupid ass partner was Arashimori!" Deidara said, pointing to the snake. "That's what I heard you say. Danna, you're confusing me."

Orochimaru growled irritably, starting to walk again. Sasori grinned, following him. Deidara blinked. "Did I say something wrong? Is stupid ass partner mad at me? I'm sorry stupid ass partner!" the blonde yelled.

Sasori chuckled. "Okay, you can stop calling him that now. It was entertaining while it lasted but he's going to take it out on me later."

"Aw, I liked calling him stupid ass partner." The puppeteer gave him an amused glance.

"Keep that up and you're going to sound like Kakuzu."

"What's a cuckoo zoo?" Deidara asked curiously.

"Never mind. Just call my partner Orochimaru, nothing else."

"Okay, Arashimori it is!" The blonde said, nodding. Sasori smirked, deciding that it was no use trying to correct him. This might turn out to be very interesting.

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><p><strong>What did you think? Continue, don't continue? This is actually the longest first chapter I've ever written, believe it or not. Anyways review if you want a continuation! I don't want to spend time on this if no one is reading it!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Looks like I'm continuing this! Thanks for the positive feedback, I really appreciate it! Okay so on to explaining something about this chapter. Deidara is only five years old right now, so that means that this happened 14 years before Shippuden. I am aware that Akatsuki probably wasn't formed at this time but I'm going to change that to work with the story. Also I'm going to have to mess around with Pein/Nagato and Konan's ages as well, or else they'd be like 15 or 16 which wouldn't make any sense. I'm sad that I'm having to change things around this much but it can't be helped… Anyways enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!**

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><p>"Sasori."<p>

"Pein."

The leader sighed irritably. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked, gesturing towards the sleeping blonde on Sasori's back.

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly. "He was going to be killed so I decided to save him. After he woke up he wanted to go back to the village but I wasn't about to let him go back there."

"That gives no justification for why you brought a child into the base. Get him out of here before he wakes up or kill him, either one works just fine."

Sasori narrowed his eyes. "I have a reason for why we might want to keep him." Pein narrowed his eyes as well.

"Oh? Let's hear this so called reason, then." The puppeteer lifted up one of Deidara's hands and showed it to the leader. The mouth opened, tongue moving around.

"I have no idea what these mouths could be used for, but they might turn out to be part of a kekkai genkai unique to the kid," Sasori said. Pein leaned in closer, narrowing his eyes even more as he inspected the mouth.

"Very interesting. You might be right about him having a kekkai genkai, we'll have to keep an eye on him." The leader backed away again, standing up straight. "But I still will not allow him to stay in the base, he'll have to live somewhere else, preferably far away from here."

Sasori scowled. "And why can't he just stay here again?"

"Because children are unpredictable; he could reveal the location of our base at any time. He's not staying here, and that's final. Besides, why do you care so much about this child anyway?"

The puppeteer growled. "What makes you say I care about the brat? I just want to make sure he doesn't go back to Iwa. I'm not completely cold-hearted like you are."

"At least I actually have a real heart," Pein replied coolly, turning away. Ouch. That was low. Sasori glared at him. "You are dismissed. Find him somewhere to stay and keep an eye on him."

Sasori walked out of the room, mumbling curses under his breath. He passed by Kakuzu, who gave him a weird look. "Who's the kid?"

"None of your business Kakuzu," Sasori said as he kept walking.

"Huh? Where's the cuckoo zoo?" Deidara muttered. The redhead jumped as he heard his voice.

"Nowhere, now go back to sleep."

"Okay," the blonde yawned, digging his head into Sasori's shoulders. "You smell nice, like the trees outside."

"I'm sure I do," the puppeteer said, rolling his eyes. "Wouldn't be too surprising."

Zetsu surprised him by suddenly emerging from the floor. "What are you doing with that child?" the white half asked.

"I will gladly dispose of him if he is of no use," the black half said.

Sasori frowned, still not used to the grass nin's strange split personality and habit of appearing unannounced. "I think Pein would like him to remain in one piece, as do I."

"Figures," the black half muttered darkly.

"So what is he doing here anyway?" the white half asked again.

In response Sasori held up one of Deidara's hands. "He might have a kekkai genkai, but we're not sure yet."

"Mouths? That's new…" white Zetsu said, raising an eyebrow. "I've never seen anything like that. I'm going to have to do some research now…" With that he sunk into the floor again, disappearing from sight.

Sasori stared for a moment. Shuddering, he continued walking, only to be apprehended by Zetsu again.

"What was the kid's name again?" the white half asked curiously.

"Umm… Deidara I think…" Sasori said, eye twitching.

"Good… that's good…" And he was gone again.

The puppeteer started walking faster, not wanting to encounter him again. "Need to get out of here…" he muttered. But of course he couldn't escape without coming across the last member of the Akatsuki, Konan. She was returning from a mission, and walked in the door as he was walking out. The kunoichi stopped, glancing over at Deidara. After a moment she merely continued on, not saying a word.

Konan wasn't the most talkative of people; it was rare to hear her speak. Sasori sighed, glad he hadn't had to explain himself again. He glanced over at Deidara.

"You're a lot more trouble than you're worth, you know that?" he said, rolling his eyes. The only response he got was a humming noise, and the blonde digging his head further into Sasori's shoulders. The redhead smirked. "Cute though, I'll give you that."

Sasori walked out of the base, looking around. "Now where was that abandoned house I found a few weeks back again…?"

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><p>Deidara opened his eyes slowly, yawning. He stretched his arms carefully over his head, and started to take in his surroundings. He was in a small, dimly lit room that wasn't all too big. He could make out a little work desk in the corner, and a dresser on the other side of the room. The bed he was laying on had dark-colored sheets and blankets. Or maybe it was just the lack of light that made them appear that way; he couldn't tell.<p>

The blonde blinked a few times. "Danna?" he called out, suddenly remembering the redhead that had been carrying him around. He pulled the blanket off of him and put his feet on the ground, attempting to stand up. He completely forgot about his injured right leg, and he fell forward when he tried to put weight on it. "Owie," he muttered. "Forgot about that." He tried pushing himself up with his arms, but fell down again when his left arm burst out in pain from the burns. "Forgot about that too."

Deidara sighed. "Now how am I gonna get up?"

"I could help with that."

The blonde whipped his head around in surprise, but then he started to grin. "Danna! You didn't leave!" he said happily, awkwardly waving from his position on the floor.

The redhead stepped forward from the shadows, frowning. "You're going to hurt yourself even more if you aren't careful, you know." He picked Deidara up and set him on the bed, the blonde still grinning widely.

"That's okay, Danna!"

His frown deepened. "You're going to be so reckless when you're older," he muttered.

"Does being reckless mean I can fly?" Deidara asked, wide eyed.

"…I suppose…"

"Yay! I've always wanted to fly! I wanna fly with all the birdies in the sky!" the blonde said, smiling. "Then I can go wherever I want and nobody can get me! I won't ever have to get hurt no more!"

The redhead was silent for a moment. "That would be nice, wouldn't it?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to the blonde. "You know, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met."

"Huh?" Deidara squinted, a confused expression on his face. "How am I strong? I'm so little and everyone else is so big and I'm not a very fast runner and –"

The man shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. What I mean is that you've dealt with this your whole life and you haven't snapped yet. You somehow found the will to keep going even when it seemed the whole world was against you. That's really rare to find in a person, especially with someone your age. Aren't you ever lonely, or sad?"

Deidara stared at the floor, thinking. After a minute he looked back up. "Nothing really lasts forever, you know. Especially good things. But if the good things aren't there for long, then neither are the bad things, right? I always tell myself that and it helps me."

The redhead looked at him, surprised. "That's really smart coming from a little brat like you. But there's one thing that is wrong with your theory."

The blonde frowned. "It's not right? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that everything is meant to be eternal, to last forever. And I think that –"

The man's words were interrupted when Deidara's stomach growled. The blonde's face turned red with embarrassment, visible even in the dimly lit room. "Danna… I'm hungry…"

The redhead sighed, shaking his head. "Always interrupted by human needs…" he muttered, standing up and walking out of the room.

Deidara blinked. "Human needs? Doesn't that mean you too, Danna? Aren't you hungry?" he asked the empty room. "Cause I know that everyone needs to eat, or else you get this really bad feeling in your tummy and you get all dizzy and it's not good for you." Then he gasped. "Danna! You're not an-ana-anar-anirechic are you? Because that's bad!"

"Of course I'm not anorexic," the redhead scoffed, walking back into the room with some bakudan. "I just can't eat."

"But if you can't eat then that means you're anirechic! Hurry Danna you need to eat something! I don't want you to be anirechic!" Deidara cried.

The redhead chuckled, sitting down next to him and handing him the bakudan. "Like I said I can't eat, even if I wanted to. That's because –"

He was interrupted when Deidara shoved the bakudan in his mouth. "Eat Danna eat! You can do it!" Deidara yelled enthusiastically. "I believe in you!"

The redhead choked, surprised by his actions. He quickly spat the food out of his mouth, sputtering. "Why'd you do that?"

"I don't want you to be anirechic forever, Danna!" the blonde wailed. Then his face fell. "In my village, when people don't eat and they're anarechic, then they die. I don't want you to die too, Danna!" He dug his head into the man's arm, crying. "You're so nice to me, you can't die."

The redhead stared in shock for a moment. Then before he knew what he was doing he wrapped his arms around the blonde. "I won't die," he said softly.

Deidara stopped sniffling. "You promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Okay good, because I would be really sad if you were gone."

* * *

><p>Sasori looked down at the small blonde he was holding, still unable to comprehend what he was doing. What had come over him? Why had he made such a stupid promise to a little brat he didn't even really know? Why was he comforting him? Why did he feel a need to protect this kid? Why?<p>

He sighed. "Deidara."

"Huh?" the blonde asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm going to go back to the base and see if I can find anything to treat your wounds with, I'll be right back. Please don't leave this house and don't get into trouble."

Deidara pouted. "But I don' wanna stay here all alone, Danna!"

The redhead frowned. Oh great, now he was feeling guilty… why the hell was he feeling guilty? "It'll only take a little while, I'll be back soon."

Deidara sniffed. "Ok."

Sasori let go of the blonde and stood up, starting to leave when he heard the kid's stomach growl again. He turned around to look at the sheepish blonde. "That's right, you still haven't eaten yet… I'll bring some more food down here too, that was the last of the bakudan…"

"Ok. Hurry Danna! I'm starving!"

"I'll try," Sasori said, turning back around and heading out the door. As he walked, he started making a mental list of things that he should get from the base.

Food and medical supplies obviously, and it probably wouldn't hurt to grab extra blankets and sheets; it could get extremely cold at night. He was also going to have to find some more clothes for the brat, he couldn't wear that same raggedy outfit forever. Maybe he could bring a few weapons, teach him how to throw kunai and such.

Sasori sighed, still not able to believe he'd gotten himself into this. He could have just left the kid, maybe they would have let him live…

But something told the redhead that they would have beat him and beat him until he screamed and then finally put him out of his misery. The whole village radiated that kind of killer intent; it almost reminded him of Kirigakure. Now that was a village he'd like to stay away from.

There was a swordsman from Kiri that Pein had taken an interest in lately. He went by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki or something, and had great potential though he was only 18. He was probably going to be joining the Akatsuki soon if he showed any signs of disloyalty at all to his village. He was starting to make a name for himself, known to some as the "tailed beast without a tail."

Sasori frowned. Having more members in the Akatsuki could be nice; the base was always extremely boring and quiet. Not that he had a problem with the quiet part, but sometimes the silence was stifling. Maybe this Kisame guy would have a more lively personality…

He was startled out of his reverie when Zetsu randomly emerged from the ground again. "I have information regarding that child you found," the white half said.

Sasori blinked down at the grass nin. "That was fast…" Zetsu fully pulled himself out of the ground and started walking next to the redhead.

"Here's what I found. The kid's full name is Deidara; he has no last name that I could find. Those mouths that you showed me earlier are part of an extremely rare kekkai genkai found only in Iwagakure that was thought to be extinct. There's only been four other shinobi we know of that have possessed it," the white half explained.

"And all four of them turned out to be bat-shit crazy," the black half filled in.

"That's… one way of putting it I guess," the white half replied. "All of them ended up killing their selves in an explosion, destroying an enormous range of land in the process; they all seemed to enjoy explosions. Iwa greatly feared this kekkai genkai and tried to dispose of anyone that even showed any signs of possessing it. They still do to this day, the legends having been passed down through the generations."

"Interesting…" Sasori muttered.

"I'd be careful with the kid, he could turn out to be dangerous and threatening to the organization," the white half concluded.

"And when that time comes, we'll still be glad to take up our offer of disposing of him," the black half filled in.

"Sure… thanks for the information," Sasori said, nodding. "I'll keep that in mind." Zetsu nodded in return, and sunk into the ground without another word.

The redhead continued on his way to the hideout, thinking. _Deidara… just who are you? _

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><p><strong>And chapter 2 is done! That one killed me… I don't know why but it took forever to write… So what did you guys think? Am I moving the story along too fast? Haha it was weird for me writing Konan in character, in another fanfic I'm working on she's a crazy psychopath… Anyways please please please review! Those favorites mean a lot to me but reviews are way better! Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, first of all I must apologize for the shortness of this chapter, I've been super busy lately and since it's almost the end of the school year I've had tons of homework. I promise the next chapter is going to be better than this one; I just needed to get some things out of the way in this chapter. I'll stop talking and let you read it now. Enjoy! Oh and remember to review! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Sasori glanced around, making sure no one was present in the small kitchen. Satisfied, he walked towards the cupboards and took out a few packages of instant ramen, along with some bakudan (the brat was thoroughly addicted to the stuff). He was surprised that no one had questioned the missing food yet; he'd been sneaking it out every day for about a week now, not taking more than a day's worth each time.

As he set the food down on the counter, he was suddenly aware of another presence in the room. The redhead spun around, met with a pair of amber eyes.

"I wasn't aware you needed to eat, puppet," Konan said in a quiet voice.

Sasori blinked once, turning back around and trying to remain indifferent. _Shit, I got caught. And by Konan of all people…_

"You're taking it to that boy you had before, aren't you?"

Sasori paused for a moment, staring at the food he had laid out on the counter. "So what if I am?" he muttered. "Are you going to go tell on me now?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, I will not 'tell on you', as you put it. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I want to do whatever I can to help," Konan replied, still in the same quiet voice.

The puppeteer turned around once more to face her, trying not to let confusion show on his face. "Why?" he asked. "It would be easier for you to just let Pein know what's going on and let the kid find his own food."

"Because what you're doing is giving that child a future. You're helping him so he won't have to fend for himself. You're giving him hope; and for that I am grateful." As Konan spoke, Sasori could almost see emotion flicker in those emotionless eyes of hers; perhaps the remembering of a childhood gone wrong, a hurtful past. He knew that look all too well. "I want to help give that child everything he has been denied in his short life so far."

Sasori was silent for a moment. Then he nodded, a ghost of a smile playing at his lips. "Very well. You would like to meet Deidara, I'm assuming?"

Konan nodded as well. "Yes, I would like that."

"Well then, what are we standing around for?"

Pein moved from his position on the other side of the kitchen wall, done eavesdropping on the two's conversation. He sighed, running a hand through his orange hair. "I'm not sure if I should be glad that some of us still have kindness in their hearts or disappointed…"

The leader walked in the other direction, not wanting to be seen. "Now to make sure Orochimaru isn't creating any more of those disgusting experiments of his…"

Deidara stared at the blue-haired woman that stood in front of him, swinging his legs back and forth as he sat on the bed. "Danna, who is this?" he asked, gesturing wildly at her. The blonde's injuries had healed relatively quickly, and was almost back to normal save for a slight limping.

"Deidara, meet Konan. Konan, meet Deidara," the redhead said, introducing them.

"Hi Konan!" Deidara squealed, waving vigorously.

"Hello," Konan said politely. The redhead chuckled.

"You're the first person whose name isn't completely butchered. Orochimaru is Arashimori –"

"Stupid ass partner!" Deidara cheered.

"…that too. Kakuzu is cuckoo zoo, Zetsu is –"

"Sunshine senpai!" the blonde giggled.

"Yes, I don't even know how that one came to be… and Pein is –"

"Pinhead!"

The redhead's eye twitched, and Konan seemed to be trying not to smile. "Why do you insist on interrupting me?" he asked irritably. "It's rude to do that."

Konan glanced at him. "What about you? Does he just call you Sa –"

"He calls me Danna. I don't want him to know my real name," the redhead said, shooting a pointed glare at the blunette.

"Yeah, 'cause Danna's a meanie face like that," Deidara pouted, sticking out his tongue. "I bet Danna has a really pretty name, but he's scared that people will steal it from him so he's gonna keep it a secret."

"Yes, the scorpion does have a pretty name," Konan said, sounding somewhat amused. The redhead scowled.

Deidara blinked. "Danna's a scorpion? But scorpions are always mean to me so I squash them!" Then he gasped, running up to hug the redhead. "Oh no, does that mean I squashed Danna? I'm sorry Danna! Please forgive me! I'll try to figure out how to un-squash you! You're a nice scorpion!"

Konan had a hand over her mouth to cover up the smile that had somehow found its way there. The redhead blinked at her. "What's so funny? He does this all the time… he thinks he did something wrong so he starts apologizing and spouting out nonsense."

"…and I'll pick you flowers and catch more scorpions for you so you won't be so alone and you can have more friends of your own spa-spe-um… species! Yeah and…"

"He's adorable," Konan murmured. "And so kind-hearted… but he's too gentle for his own good." The kunoichi tussled Deidara's hair, and the boy stopped in his rant, looking up at her again.

"I just brushed my hair, you know," he pouted. "Now I'm gonna have to do it again." Then he brightened. "But it's okay, because you're nice!"

The redhead frowned. "He certainly warmed up to you much faster than he did to me…"

Konan looked over at him, seeming a little surprised. "Is that jealousy I hear?"

He scoffed. "No…"

The blunette fought a smile. "I see. It's okay; I won't take him away from you. I just wanted to visit him this once to meet him. I prefer to watch over things from a distance anyways."

"You're not gonna come back?" Deidara cried, distraught. He moved on to hugging Konan. "Please don't leave forever! You're almost as nice as Danna!"

"Don't worry, I won't leave forever if you don't want me to," she said gently. "But I don't want to get in the way of you and your Danna. Between you and me," she whispered barely audible. "He usually never gets this close to people. I don't want to interfere with that connection."

Deidara looked up, and then smiled widely. "I understand! But don't stay away for too long, I don't want to forget you!" Then he looked over to the redhead, who seemed to be almost sulking. "And Danna, you'll always be my favorite! You're the one who saved me after all and nobody can beat that! You don't need to be sad about me meeting your friends!"

The redhead merely glanced over, but he seemed to stand a little taller than he did before. The blonde finished hugging Konan and went back to his bed where his project was waiting for him. Deidara decided he was going to make his Danna a necklace out of flowers to pass the time, and he was almost half way done. It was a lot harder than he first thought it was going to be, but he was determined to finish it. He started twisting away as he bounced down on the bed and grabbed hold of the half-necklace.

Sasori glanced once more at the frivolous blonde, almost smiling at the look of concentration on his face. He turned to face Konan.

"So?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was definitely a good thing you saved him," the kunoichi said softly. "He has a pure soul; it hasn't been tainted by evil. It's a miracle, really."

Sasori nodded slowly. "Yes, it's hard to find innocence like that in this world. And especially in a place like Iwa… that place has fallen into corruption ever since the previous Tsuchikage died."

"I agree. I heard that Oonoki is supposedly first in line to take over if anything happens to the current Tsuchikage. It's a good choice, I'm sure he'd be able to somewhat bring peace to Iwa even if he's a bit aged."

The redhead nodded once more. "If something isn't done soon, that nation will completely destroy itself."

Konan was quiet for a moment, seeming preoccupied with her thoughts. Then she sighed, breaking out of her trance. "Pein wants me to return to the base immediately. He says it's urgent."

Sasori frowned. "Do you think it's about this?"

Konan shook her head. "I doubt it, he emphasized that it was something serious. I'll be taking my leave now." She turned around, and Deidara looked up.

"Aw, you're already leaving?" he whined. The kunoichi cast a glance back at the blonde and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll visit again soon."

"You better!"

Sasori looked over at Deidara too. "I should probably head back as well." Deidara pouted.

"Okay… Bye Danna! Bye Konan! See you tomorrow Danna!" Deidara waved vigorously.

Sasori smiled as well. "See you tomorrow, brat."

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><p><strong>Again, I'm extremely sorry for the short chapter, but Konan needed to meet Deidara for this to work out in the future. I already have the plot for this story planned out, but I just need to figure out how to get from point A to point B, if you know what I mean. Anyways please review! Reviews make the world go round! <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Why hello everyone… *is chased by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks* Aah I'm sorry for the wait on this chapter I really am! You would not believe how busy I've been! I'm moving soon so I've been packing, plus end of levels are coming so school has not been treating me kindly! I sincerely apologize, I will really try to spend some more time on this. Anyways… so this chapter is really weird, I don't even know what got into me. But it needs to happen and we need to see some character development in Deidara. Keep in mind that Sasori can switch between puppet bodies and he has at least one backup that looks exactly like him. That should be explanation enough I hope… read and review please!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Deidara stared dully at the door, listening for any sounds that indicated someone walking up to the house. It's been five days and the redhead still hadn't come back. He looked sadly at the now finished necklace he held in his hands. "Danna… where are you?" he whispered. He'd run out of food two days ago, but he was used to going long periods of time without eating so that didn't matter much to him. What mattered was that he was alone again.

The blonde gently set the necklace down on the floor and slowly opened the door, looking around nervously. He blinked rapidly at the sudden flood of light, squinting slightly as he walked away from the house. He was going to find his Danna.

* * *

><p>Sasori growled as he swung his hands around, defending against the attacking ANBU with his Kazekage puppet. The blade met the puppet's arm with a clanging sound. Sasori moved his index finger, releasing the iron sand attack. He finished off the ANBU quickly, and he glanced around to find Orochimaru.<p>

He was teasing the shinobi he was fighting; playing with his prey before he killed it. The puppeteer grimaced when the snake started attacking with his disgustingly long tongue. _Eugh. I'm never going to get used to that._

"Hey Orochimaru, hurry it up, I'm done over here already," Sasori called, sealing the Kazekage back into its scroll with a flourish. "I hate to be kept waiting."

Orochimaru looked back at him, tongue still battering the nin he was fighting. "Oh, you never let me have any fun," he mockingly complained, smirking.

_How the hell does he talk with his tongue hanging out of his mouth?_ Sasori wondered. "Just finish them off already," the redhead said, turning around. He started walking back to the base; his partner would catch up eventually. _Thank Kami it's not too far from here, I'm worried about Deidara. I hope Konan or at least Zetsu have been checking up on him._

* * *

><p>Deidara bit his lip as he glanced around, trying to figure out which way to go next. He knew that the redhead would always take this path when he left, but he couldn't figure out whether to keep going straight or turn onto the smaller path that had appeared. After a moment of contemplating he took the smaller path.<p>

He walked for a while, but stopped when Zetsu suddenly emerged from the ground. "What are you doing?" the black side hissed.

"I thought you were told not to leave that building," the white half added.

"Sunshine senpai!" the blonde said happily, glad to see a familiar face. "I can't find Danna anywhere," he said more sullenly, kicking at the ground. "I don't think he's ever coming back so I have to go find him."

"Oh, so that's what this is about. Pein sent him out on a mission with Orochimaru for a few days, he should actually be back today," the black half filled in.

"Now that you mention it… we were actually supposed to be checking up on you while he was away…" the white half said awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay!" Deidara grinned. _Danna didn't leave me! _"But I wanna go wait for him to come back where you guys live 'cause I haven't seen him in forever," he pouted.

Zetsu was quiet for a moment. "I'm sure it'll be fine…" the white side said uncertainly.

"If Pein kills him we can eat the remains, right?" the black side asked.

Deidara stared at him with wide eyes.

"He's just kidding," white Zetsu said quickly. "You can go wait for him, the base is that way." He pointed a little away from the direction the blonde had been heading. "His room has a scorpion painted onto the door."

"Okay! Thanks sunshine senpai!" Deidara smiled, walking towards the hideout.

"I wasn't kidding," black Zetsu muttered as he left.

As the base came into sight, Deidara slowly crept in through the entrance, making sure no one saw him. Satisfied that it seemed relatively empty, the blonde ran down a long hallway, doors on either side of him. He squinted in the darkness, trying to find the door that had a scorpion on it. He passed one with a snake, one with a flower, one with some strange symbol he didn't recognize, and finally reached the scorpion door.

He cautiously opened the door, looking around at the room. His stared in surprise when he saw all the puppets scattered around. Deidara breathed out slowly in awe, staring at each in turn. "Wow," he whispered. "Did Danna make all of these?"

Deidara took a small tour of the room, losing count of all the puppets. He turned his gaze to a large worktable pushed into the corner, and grinned when he saw the redhead laying down on the table.

"Danna!" he said happily, running over to the table. "I haven't seen you in forever, I'm so happy to see you! I thought you forgot about me!" He stood on the chair sitting next to the work desk so he could see better. The redhead had his eyes closed, left hand resting over his bare torso. He had some black pants on, but the cloak he usually wore was gone. "Danna you silly, why are you sleeping on the table when you have a bed?" the blonde asked, giggling. "Beds are a lot more comfy." There was no response.

Deidara frowned. "Danna…" he whined. "Why are you ignoring me?" The redhead on the table did not move to acknowledge the boy's presence.

The blonde then noticed that the redhead's chest was not moving, which meant that he wasn't breathing. Deidara's eyes widened, and he started whimpering. "H-hey, D-Danna… it's not n-nice to play t-tricks…" He pushed at his Danna's shoulder, trying to get some reaction out of him. The hand fell from the redhead's torso onto the table, and the blonde let out a strangled gasp when he saw what had been revealed. There was a giant hole in his chest where the heart should have been.

Deidara started hyperventilating, tears trying to escape his eyes. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening…

He closed his eyes and screamed.

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><p>Sasori's eyes widened when he started hearing explosions coming from the base. He picked up the pace, the hideout coming into sight. Another explosion sounded, this one louder than the last one. <em>What's going on over there?<em>

As he entered the base, he was met with an angry looking Pein. "Do you know if there are any explosive materials in your room that could be causing this?"

The redhead stared at him. "It's coming from my room?" he asked in disbelief. Pein nodded.

"Go see what it is immediately, Orochimaru will handle the mission report."

Sasori nearly ran down the hallway, bursting into his room. The first thing he noticed was that several of his puppets were ruined. He angrily scanned the rest of the room, but stopped when his eyes fell on a small shape sitting on the ground next to his work desk. "Deidara?" he whispered, moving closer to him. "What are you doing in here?"

The blonde let out a feral scream. An ear-shattering explosion soon followed, nearly knocking Sasori off of his feet. "Holy shit!" the redhead swore in shock. "Hey kid you need to get out of here right now!"

Deidara shook his head furiously. "Danna said he wouldn't die ever! He lied!" the boy almost shrieked. Another explosion.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm right here!" the puppeteer yelled, trying to keep his balance. Then he caught sight of the spare puppet body he had laying on the table the blonde was crouched next to. _He must have thought that was me… _Another explosion sounded.

Sasori swore some more under his breath and crouched down next to the boy. "Deidara, snap out of it! I'm right here, dammit!" he yelled, turning Deidara around to face him. The blonde blinked blearily at him, eyes bloodshot.

"D-Danna?" he muttered. He gave a small shudder and closed his eyes, falling forward into Sasori's arms. The redhead caught him and stood up with the boy in his arms, looking over the damage done to his room.

There were about four puppets that were completely out of commission, many more that needed at least a few repairs, and scarcely any that had escaped damage. Sasori growled, trying to figure the amount of time he would have to spend fixing them. He then realized that the explosions had stopped.

The puppeteer glanced at Deidara. _Was… he the one making the explosions? Was there something Zetsu forgot to tell me about him?_

Sasori sighed, making his way through the base again to report in to Pein. He passed by Orochimaru, who looked at the blonde in his arms with a smirk. "Sso he wass the one behind thiss, wass he not?"

The redhead ignored him, continuing on to the leader's office. Sasori knew that if Deidara was really the one that caused the explosions, then he would have to be trained. He would have to become a shinobi.

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><p><strong>Wow. How many of you saw that coming? I know I didn't… haha. I decided it was time our little Dei started training to be the terrorist bomber we know and love! Anyways I really didn't plan for this though, I had something totally different planned at first but this worked out better and was easier to write. So yeah… please review! Reviews help Sasori fix his puppets faster! He needs all the help he can get… lol.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Gah! Real. Life. Sucks. DX And luck is just not on my side. So I had most of this chapter and other stuff typed out and saved on my flash drive a long time ago, but my flash drive got corrupted and I lost everything on it. Then I got completely overwhelmed with schoolwork because it was nearing the end of the quarter and I just didn't have time for my stories. And then, when I finally get a break from school, I get the stomach flu. Really bad. -_- Then when I start feeling better, I found out I popped a blood vessel in my eyeball! o.e It was gross but kinda cool at the same time cause there was a bunch of blood at the bottom of my eye and I was all like O.o Mangekyou Sharingan! But I wasn't allowed to use any electronic devices for forever. And the latest in this series of unfortunate events I have caught a cold. But I'm finally back to writing, even though the pile of tissues in my garbage can keeps growing! I hope you all aren't too mad at me… And this chapter definitely isn't worth the wait so I sincerely apologize. D: Anyways now that I've ranted on forever about my personal life please read, enjoy, and review!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

"Huh?"

Deidara gazed at the redhead, and apparently wanted criminal, with a dumbstruck expression. Sasori sighed in exasperation.

"Look, to put it simply, me and all of these other people are part of an evil organization and are working in secret to control the world. Understand?"

The blonde blinked, tilting his head to the side. "So you're a bad guy?"

The redhead deadpanned. "Yes. I'm a bad guy. I'm a puppet master who uses poisonous weapons to kill people."

Deidara grinned, folding his arms. "Nuh uh, you're way too nice to kill people. Danna wouldn't hurt a fly."

Sasori's eye twitched ever so subtly. _Does he really not see me as threatening at all? That can't be a good thing…_ _Maybe Orochimaru was on to something when he said that I was going soft… _He shook his head. "Anyways, the point is I'm not always going to be here to watch after you because I get sent on missions from time to time. And with the time I do get to spend here, I'm going to start teaching you how to defend yourself if the need arises."

"Yay I get to be a ninja just like Danna!" Deidara said excitedly, throwing his hands into the air. "This is going to be so… what is that word… umm… artsome! Wait, that's not it…"

"It's fine, I get it," Sasori said hurriedly, not wanting the boy to go into a five minute discussion with himself while he tried to figure out what word he wanted to say. The blonde ceased in his talking, looking up at him with eager blue eyes.

"What's first?" he asked, padding back and forth across the small house. "Do I get to learn how to make puppets, or do I get to use cool attacks and spit fireballs out of my mouth, or-"

"First, before anything else, you need to learn chakra control," the puppeteer said, already starting to become a little impatient with the boy. This was going to be a little harder than he thought.

"What's chakra?"

Scratch that. This was going to be way harder than he first thought.

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><p>After a "short" explanation on what chakra was and what purpose it had, Sasori was about done.<p>

"Did you get any of that?" the redhead asked irritably for the seventh time.

Deidara was bouncing up and down on the small creaky mattress, twirling a piece of dirty blonde hair around his finger. He looked up absently. "Sorry, could you explain it again? I didn't really understand it."

Sasori closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying not to lash out at the boy. "You know, maybe we should try this another day. I think I should go back to base and try and figure out some lesson plans for you."

"Leaving already?" The blonde pouted, looking up at him sadly.

The puppeteer opened his eyes, and the look on Deidara's face almost made him change his mind. But he knew if he stayed here any longer he was going to lose his temper sooner or later. "I promise I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

"…okay… you better keep your promise!" Deidara replied. The flicker of doubt in those blue eyes before he answered made Sasori feel extremely guilty.

"I will," he said with a smile.

Ten minutes later found Sasori back at the base with his head face down on his worktable. "There's no way I can teach him without losing my sanity," he said aloud in a muffled voice. "There. Is. Just. No. Way." He hit his head on the table after each word.

…

The redhead pace back and forth, skillfully maneuvering around the puppets that were scattered haphazardly across the floor. "There's got to be a way, there's got to be a way…"

…

"There's no way," he said as he lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "That's the bottom of it."

…

"I have to find a way," he determined as he resumed his pacing, now at a faster rate. "I can't give up this early in the game."

…

"You know what, I give up," Sasori huffed as he flung himself onto the bed.

…

He rolled over to stare at the ceiling again. "He needs to learn how to defend himself."

…

"Maybe I can just make Zetsu protect him all the time," he reasoned with himself, quite satisfied with that answer.

…

Sasori scrubbed furiously at a spot on one of his puppets. "This. Damn. Stain. Won't. Come. Out!"

…

Six minutes later, he stared in horror at the hole he had just made in the perfect wood of one of his favorite puppets. "Shit."

…

The redhead once again engaged in a staring contest with the ceiling. "Maybe Konan has some tips on how to deal with this kind of thing…"

…

Konan stared at him.

Sasori stared back.

She sighed. "For the last time, I do not know how to fix the holes in your puppets."

The redhead blinked. "Oh…"

…

"Women aren't ever useful," Sasori decided as he turned in for the night. He cast one last remorseful glance at the "holy" puppet, and sighed. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll try something different."

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><p>"Danna, I think I broke your puppet even more!" Deidara cried, panicking as one of the arms separated itself from the rest of the contraption.<p>

* * *

><p>"No. That didn't work. Why did I think that would work? It was stupid of me to even consider it." Sasori let out an exasperated sigh, throwing the completely useless puppet in the corner. "I need to figure out how to get through to Deidara. There's no way in hell I'm giving him any weapons to practice with yet, and he just doesn't understand the concept of chakra at all… what else is there to do?"<p>

The redhead frowned. "Maybe hand-to-hand combat is the best thing to start with, now that I think of it." He nodded, confirming his decision. "Tomorrow, we'll work on his Taijutsu."

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><p><strong>Crap that was a lot shorter than I wanted it to be. XP Meh you guys will just have to give me a break, 'kay? ;D So I hope you guys liked the chapter, don't forget to review! I was going to post this on Christmas as a present for all of you guys, but a lot of things came up and I just never got around to it… *hides Naruto Shippuden Generations behind her back* X3 Oh and how many of you have heard of the Naruto spin off show they made called "Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals"? Best. Thing. Ever. Made. I don't care what you have planned today, go to Google, type in "Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals Episode 38". Watch it. The Akatsuki are in it. <strong>**AND THEY'RE CHIBIFIED!**** Most freaking awesome/adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. I love how they did Deidara and Sasori! Hidan and Pein were pretty lovable too. X3 Anyways have a good holiday everyone!**


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